Arkansas abortion measure's signatures from volunteers alone would fall short, filing shows

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- The signatures collected by volunteers for an Arkansas abortion-rights measure would fall short of the number needed to qualify for the ballot if those are the only ones counted, according to an initial tally from election officials filed Thursday with the state Supreme Court.

The filing from the secretary of state's office comes after the court ordered officials to begin counting signatures submitted, but only those collected by volunteers. Arkansans for Limited Government, which used volunteer and paid canvassers, has sued the state for rejecting its petitions.

The Arkansas secretary of state's office said it determined that 87,675 of the signatures were collected by volunteers, which alone would fall short of the 90,704 signature threshold from registered voters required to qualify. The filing said it could not determine whether another 912 signatures were collected by paid canvassers or volunteers.

Organizers submitted more than 101,000 signatures on the July 5 deadline in favor of the proposal to scale back Arkansas' abortion ban. But state officials rejected the petitions days later, claiming the group did not properly submit documents regarding paid canvassers it used.

Justices are considering whether to allow the abortion-rights campaign’s lawsuit challenging the rejection to go forward. It’s not clear the next step for justices, who have not ruled on the state’s request to dismiss the abortion campaign’s lawsuit.

Arkansans for Limited Government said the initial tally shows that if the total number of signatures from paid and canvassers is counted, the state can move forward with checking the validity of the signatures.

“Our optimism remains alive but cautious as we wait for the Arkansas Supreme Court to issue further guidance,” the group said.

Attorney General Tim Griffin, however, asserted the count showed the process can't move forward for the proposal.

“The Secretary of State fulfilled the order of the Arkansas Supreme Court, did so ahead of schedule, and confirmed that the abortion advocates did not turn in enough qualifying signatures to meet the statutory threshold for a cure period,” Griffin said.

The proposed amendment, if approved, wouldn’t make abortion a constitutional right but is seen as a test of support for abortion rights in a predominantly Republican state. Arkansas currently bans abortion at any time during a pregnancy, unless the woman’s life is endangered due to a medical emergency.

The proposed amendment would prohibit laws banning abortion in the first 20 weeks of gestation and allow the procedure later on in cases of rape, incest, threats to the woman’s health or life, or if the fetus would be unlikely to survive birth.

Arkansans for Limited Government and election officials disagreed over whether the petitions complied with a 2013 state law requiring campaigns to submit statements identifying each paid canvasser by name and confirming that rules for gathering signatures were explained to them.

Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision removing the nationwide right to abortion, there has been a push to have voters decide the matter state by state.